Maoists of the Andhra-Odisha Border special zonal committee (AOB-SZC) have reportedly sent a warning to three people 'posing' as their representatives and giving permissions to contractors to mine in the Visakhapatnam agency areas.
The three people named include Andhra University professor Jarra Appa Rao, former naxalite Pilli Venkateswarlu alias Satyam and TDP leader SV Ramana.
In a press release by the CPI (Maoist) AOB SZC official spokesman Jagabandhu stated that these people were threatening local tribals and claiming that the banned outfit had permitted contractors to mine, following which they had set up crusher machines to extract laterite, granite and other reserves, the Times of India reported.
"Appa Rao has been claiming that he has relations with the Maoists. This is not true. On the contrary, he is getting benefits from political leaders and contractors," the TOI report quotes the press release as saying.
The report also goes on to add that the Maoists alleged that Appa Rao had ties with the police and was pressuring activists and their families to surrender.
Following an encounter in the Malkangiri forests along the Andhra-Odisha border in October last year, where security forces claimed to have killed around 31 Maoists, the outfit underwent a structural reorganisation to up the ante against the state.
The mantle of the CPI(M) Andhra-Odisha Border secretary was passed on from Ramakrishna alias RK to Gajarla Ravi alias Uday.
Besides planting several mines across sensitive areas and strongly coming out against the mining of bauxite and other resources in the Agency area, the outlaws have also put out a death threat against Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
Director General of Police N Sambasiva Rao said a general alert was received from the Union Home Ministry about the increased threat perception in November.
Rao said the police were taking all necessary steps for the Chief Minister's security. He said police kept evaluating the situation and taking additional security measures whenever required.
The police chief said the state police was capable of taking care of the situation.
Currently, Naidu is under 'Z plus' category protection and his security detail includes members from the elite National Security Guard apart from Andhra Pradesh police's Intelligence Security Wing.
Naidu had survived a claymore mine attack by Maoists on October 1, 2003 in Tirupati.
Naidu, who was then the Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, had sustained injuries in the blast.
IANS inputs